Kedah Fire and Rescue’s AI-generated poster went viral after showing a firefighter holding an assault rifle.
THE Kedah Fire and Rescue Department found itself at the centre of online ridicule recently after an AI-generated promotional poster it published on Facebook depicted one of its firefighters holding what appeared to be an assault rifle — rather than the more expected firefighting equipment.
The poster, which has since been taken down, was originally shared to promote the department’s workforce of nearly 937 personnel and to highlight the various areas across Kedah that fall under its coverage.
The image’s background was thematically appropriate, featuring thick fire and smoke alongside firefighters engaged in rescue operations. However, one figure in the foreground was generated holding a firearm — one that did not even appear to be a realistic weapon, featuring an unusually short buttstock and a disproportionately large scope.
The post quietly disappeared from Facebook, but not before a netizen reposted it to the Malaysia subreddit on Monday, March 2, where it quickly gained traction.
Malaysian Reddit users were quick to poke fun at the blunder, with one commenter summing up the image with a simple quip: “Fight fire with fire.” Others pointed out a second oddity in the image — a separate firefighter appearing to hold the Jaws of Life hydraulic rescue tool in a gun-like pose, though commenters conceded that it was at least a legitimate piece of firefighting equipment.
Beyond the jokes, some netizens raised a broader concern about the growing and seemingly uncritical use of AI-generated imagery across Malaysian government agencies.
One commenter alleged that younger staff reach for AI tools out of convenience, while more senior personnel commissioning the work often do not scrutinise the output closely enough before publication.
This is not the first time the Kedah Fire and Rescue Department has faced attention over its AI-generated content.
A poster published on February 21, had also drawn notice for depicting a water jet from a fire hose behaving in a manner that defied basic physics.
The department has yet to issue a public statement regarding either incident.
